Spirit of the Forest
by ChibiKuroNeko9
Summary: What if Mystique had twins and had lost them both in the same area? This is the story of that lost twin and how she comes to accept herself and take her place in the world.
1. Default Chapter

Spirit of the Forest  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Kayla. Zafaras belong to Neopets, and X-Men Evolution is not my creation.  
  
This fic is based on a thought and inspired by a pic; Spirit Of The Tree by shdwequine_goddess. The pic is of a ghost Zafara hanging around a tree. For those of you who have never been to Neopets, a Zafara looks like Nightcrawler mixed with a rabbit with three back spikes. They can supposedly breathe fire and jump very high. Usually they have blue eyes and come in a variety of colors, but the ghost Zafara has red eyes and has a bluish white glowing coat of fur. Well, to better picture what a Zafara looks like, go adopt one yourself at Neopets and adopt one today. Anyways, the mutant of this story is called the Spirit of the Forest or Forest Spirit for short. She's Nightcrawler's twin sister, with a few differences in appearance and powers. Like Nightcrawler, she has been abandoned, but she was never lucky enough to find anyone to care for her. She has only known fear and hatred from any human or humanoid mutants she's come across. A real shame, since she is a gentle and kind person. She lives alone in a forest in an area not too far from where Nightcrawler grew up. Her powers are the abilities to float in mid-air, pass through any material, invisibility, see in the darkest places, invulnerability to cold, and cause a temporary freezing numbness to anyone she touches. Add to that her glowing red eyes and luminescent bluish white fur, it's no wonder why she's so feared and why she's called the Forest Spirit. For those who look under that intimidating appearance find a sweet kind healer who would anything to help others. The only things that anger her are threats to her forest and to her beloved flower patch. More on the flowers later. And now onto the story. * * * * * * * * * * * A small bundle of clothes wandered through the forest, crying and calling out for his parents. The only response was silence from the snow laden trees. The child stumbled on, before tripping on a tree root. He sat there for a while, sobbing, afraid of the forest and the approach of night. He suddenly became aware of a soft glowing light that shone through a break in the trees. Curiosity overtaking him, the small boy waddled over to the light and the sight that met his eyes took his breath away. Before him was a small clearing filled with glowing flowers that looked like they were made of moonlight. He picked one with a gloved hand, marveling over its beauty and imagining the look on his mother's face when he gave it to her. Then he remembered that he was lost, and began to cry once more. "Why are you crying? Do the flowers make you sad?" The bay whirled in shock, and gave a small yelp at the thing in front of him. It was about his height, with glowing white fur and bright red eyes. Its long rabbit-like ears twitched, as did its tail. "A-are you g-going t-to eat m-me?" "Why would I want to do that?" "You're a monster ghost right?" "Um, no. I'm just like you, I just look different." "No you don't, you look just like me." To prove it, the boy took off his gloves, scarves, and hood, revealing his blue fur, pointed ears, and three fingered hands. A thin blue furred tail snaked out from the tail, and he waved it before the apparition. "Your tail tip looks like a heart. Mine looks like a leaf." To prove it, it waved a glowing white tail in front of him. "Wow that looks so pretty. Hey, what's your name? My name's Kurt." "I um, don't have a name." "Didn't your mom or dad name you?" "No, I don't have a mom or dad. All I have is the forest and the flowers." "I know, how about I give you a name? That way we can be friends forever." "Really? You mean it?" "Sure, you're nice for a ghost, so I'll give you a name. Hmm, how about Kayla?" "Kayla? I like it; it sounds like a pretty name." "Then your name will be Kayla! And we'll be friends forever!" "Yeah, friends forever! So Kurt, why were you crying before?" "I'm lost, I can't find my house. The wolves will come out soon and eat me if I don't get home soon." "I'll help you find your way home." "You will?" "Of course, we're friends!" "Thanks." The two friends headed off to search for Kurt's house. Some time later, they saw it from the edge of a river. Before they approached the house, Kayla stopped Kurt, and gave him some dried white flower petals. "Eat these whenever you feel sad. They'll make you feel happy again." "Thanks Kayla." They walked up to the door and Kurt knocked on it. His mother opened it, and instantly hugged the small boy, relieved that he had made it home alright. "Kurt, you had me and your father so worried. You must have been so scared." "I'm alright mama. Kayla helped me, she's a nice ghost." "A ghost?" "Yeah, she's right here. See?" Kurt turned to introduce his friend to his mother, but the apparition had vanished without a trace. "Are you sure Kayla was real Kurt?" "She looked real. Maybe she went away because she was a ghost. Oh yeah, she gave me these. Told me to eat them when I'm sad." With that, the child presented his mother with the dried flower petals and the glowing one he had picked. The next day, Kurt went out into the forest to find the flower patch and his new friend, but he never saw them again.   
  


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Chapter two: The Threat of Losing a Home 


	2. The Threat of Losing a Home

Chapter Two: The Threat of Losing a Home  
  
Disclaimer: Once again, I do not anything except for Kayla. If she just happens to seem to be a personification of someone or something, that is due to freakish coincidence. So leave me alone and don't accuse me of anything. Opinions are welcome though. Also, bear with me as I'm trying to deal with the problem of having things mashed together.  
  


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Eleven years later, a logging company had set its sight on a particular forest in Germany. They had just purchased a large tract of land and a permit to log on that area. The logging project was scheduled to begin tomorrow, and the workers were looking forward to completing the task. There had been a slight problem with an old man who had warned them that the forest spirit was very territorial and that they should probably log somewhere else. Laughing at the old fool's advice, the foreman ignored him and the project would begin on schedule. Spirits indeed! Well, spirit or no, the area was going to be cleared no matter what.  
The next day, early in the morning, the first few trees went down before the equipment began to malfunction. The foreman was furious, and rightly so. All of the equipment had been newly purchased and it seemed that they had gotten factory rejects. No matter, they would just have to do it the old fashioned way with saws. The logging would just have to wait until tomorrow.  
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Everything had been going smoothly, until a few of the workers began to complain of a sudden freezing numbness that prevented them from working for a while. This continued until a few days later. Suddenly saws would go missing and strange sounds could be heard when there was nothing around. Then a few of the workers quit and others became frightened when a strange red-eyed glowing creature was spotted in one of the trees before fading from sight. Scoffing at the dispirited workers, the foreman continued the project. More of the workers quit when they discovered that the apparition was responsible for the freezing numbness and when it began to appear among them.  
The logging project was put on hold and the media had a field day with the strange goings on. Was it caused by a real ghost, or was it a prank by some tree hugger. The answer was soon found out has a cameraman caught a brief sight of the thing on tape. It became a big controversy and soon it was the biggest topic of the world. Ghosts really did exist, and proof of it was seen on live television. The loggers moved out and the area quickly became the flocking point of ghost hunters who wanted to get an experience with the Spirit of the Forest as it was now being called. Further sightings of the spirit were coming more often after the loggers had moved out. None of the ghost hunters were attacked by the apparition as long as they left the forest intact.  
The sightings were now attracting tourists who wanted to see the spirit for themselves. Unfortunately, it also attracted the attention of others who figured that the 'spirit' was something else entirely. 


End file.
